To think car ownership is out of control in the UK

Tbh yes it was snarky, but perhaps it’s because of the countless replies you have posted to others on this thread who have told you why they may need a bigger car and you tell them they’re wrong. You can be annoyed at the lack of parking space and congestion - that’s fine, that’s your experience. But to go around telling everyone that they don’t need big cars is absurd. How many large families are there? People who live with their elderly parents, multiple children? How many disabled that need space for wheelchairs. I don’t think you can easily pass the judgement of ‘they bought the car because the PCP was cheap’ by driving past a parked car.

And free public transport like in Luxembourg

More car share hire schemes like electric bike hire schemes would be a good start.

Well yes one of the issues is that people use cars for short journeys that could often be down by other means. Habit, no safe alternatives etc. Myriad of reasons. But obviously cars spend most of their time parked taking up space and cluttering streets which is such a waste of urban space, especially. If there were fewer cars and they were used more - by multiple people even it would be more efficient. Dunno how it would work but there must be a technological solution and then you just need the political will to make it happen.

Christ on a bike. Or in a car.

Driving has become more accessible. It’s not the Victorian times when all streets and houses were built for the life they were living, and cars were for the bourgeoisie. Society has moved on and even women (omg) can drive.

What we can’t do is dig up all of Britain and rebuild it. So we can only adapt it with these small changes you’re referencing. And aside from banning SUV+, what do you propose exactly? A banding system where you’re only allowed a car if you reeeeeeally need it?

Btw I have a small SUV and live in a part of England that is majorly new built and the roads are glorious. Modern roundabouts, plenty of space for parking and cars to fit through. Very nice traffic calming measures. I invite you to move here so you can drive and park your car in peace from all these horrible city people in their horrible cars.

See, I just don't get this. Driving is stressful, you're always "on", it's often mega crowded and you're sitting in traffic, and then there's the stress of finding somewhere to park when you get there.

If the journey can be done by public transport I find it a massive relief. Time to go on my phone, read, watch the world go by...and when you get there you just walk off.

Very interesting post fo a Monday lunchtime. Either the liquid lunch was too much OR you need a very large glass of vino 💕

We'll be sticking with the cars, at least until we relocate, and then we might try to manage with one if the local amenities two geriatrics need are within walking distance (which is what we're looking for). But for now we live in a small village with no shop and the nearest supermarket is four miles away; the other small town, where I prefer to shop, is seven miles in the other direction. There's rail service to the nearest biggish city from the village but the round trip costs more than petrol and parking while the bus service is limited and stops at about 6:00 pm.

Also those living in bigger cities/towns need to remember not all public transport, mainly buses run until late in the evening in some areas, there are two bus companies that run buses where I used to live in the town and if they're short on drivers they'll just cancel certain routes without a thought for those that use/need the transport.

Where I live now there's 2 buses a day to run along side school pick up/drop off times.

This just pushes owners to park their non used vehicles out to other areas where permits aren't needed.

Edited to add...
Posted in reply to
@JacquesHarlow post

this still wouldn’t get me out of my car. I’ve done my years of public transport

I've said it before, you're never going to get people out their cars until there is cheap, safe, reliable public transport. It's simple.

I would love to get rid of my car and use public transport but it is very unreliable where I live, expensive and infrequent.

I would like anyone with an SUV to have to take their test in one. Smaller cars would be chosen. I think size of cars is the greater issue than number, though if motoring laws and standards were adequate and enforced, you'd take about a quarter of all driving licences away so the number of cars would reduce.

Public transport is so appalling even within cities that even though my kids go to school a couple of miles away, I have to take them because the bus, which is timetabled to be half hourly, regularly just doesn't turn up leaving my kids in the dark and cold. I can't get the bus to the station so also need to drive the couple of miles to park there. Husband's office is cross country so no public transport.

I think just our one family's story pretty much sums it up. There's no public transport to speak of, and that's in a major city in the south east.

”Not all CPZs limit the number of permits per household. I would limit it to 2 per household MAXIMUM, with a tapering effect so by 2030 it is 1 car per household.

Increase the costs for permits so that serial multiple car owners have to really think whether they want to pay £3k a year to park 5 random old bangers on a street”

Are you aware of the existence of house shares? 🤔🤔

This is true.

So only people who have driveways can have cars?!

I drive in London occasionally and driving down streets of Victorian terraces isn’t a problem, it just means occasionally reversing.

I’d be all for a ban on owning massive cars in the city though. I think v few people have 5 cars so I don’t think you need to worry about that.

I'm talking about whether the amount of cars that are parked up in suburban and urban streets, can be supported long-term.

As I've said in a previous post about unregistered traders, firstly the authorities should rid the streets of these traders and all unregistered, untaxed, non MOT'ed vehicles.

As many people have said, car ownership has increased because more people are working further away from home, public transport to said workplace is non existent or hideously expensive, children living at home longer so they will also need a car to get to work meaning more cars in one household instead of less cars spread over more houses.

Cars are also bigger even when you discount the SUVs. Even a standard mini is a lot bigger than an old one used to be but nothing else has changed to accommodate this and it's getting harder to find older smaller cars that have the same safety rating, have space for car seats and are reliable and unlikely to break down.

It's not always as simple as "get a job/school closer to home or take public transport. A well paying career might be based in x area but housing costs aren't in your reach. You lose your job that's on your doorstep and just to keep a roof over your head you take one with an hour's drive.

When we were looking to buy we wanted to live closer to our workplaces but we couldn't get what we wanted for the money we had which meant moving somewhere else where we had to drive. My hours especially meant public transport just didn't run so even if I wanted to get the bus or something it wouldn't have been possible no matter where I lived since there was nothing surrounding it but a dual carriageway and a motorway. When I changed jobs to a different place on my doorstep my hours still meant driving was the safest option for a lone female as opposed to walking at midnight or later.

When I changed to school hours I still had to drive in order to get to work in time after dropping the kids off until I changed my hours and took a pay cut. Only possible because of the new hours suiting my workplace and being able to afford the drop in pay because my husband earns quite well.

That's just my example of why I needed a car to drive such short journeys, I'm certainly not unusual so it's no wonder there are more cars on the road.

Maybe for you!

Not only multi generation but older DC, my DC both passed their driving test aged 17 and still lived at home, both needing cars to get to work/college.

There's also areas where multiple large housing developments are being built with little or no infrastructure in the way of transport links let alone schools, convenience shops, Dr's or dentists, for some a cars are essential.

How would 1 car per household work when both parents need a car to get to work because the public transport links are so terrible?
if your entire post was about how public transport needs to improve massively so we can all rely less on our cars, I’d be more with you.

I hate how in the residential areas there aren't any streets where 2 cars fit the road and it's very stressful tucking in all the time. Honestly, a lot of the cars would fit their drives if they wanted. But it's easier to leave it. People also have too many cars when they don't need them (some do, some dont). But since public transportation is shit, it is so much easier to have several cars.